Benjo

He has managed 4 games. A home game vs Hibs where he decided not to push for a win when they were down to 10 men. I missed the Dundee United game but believe his tactical changes left us hanging on (again against 10 men). We got beat last week at home with a terrible performance in an important match. MacLean just constantly throwing on more and more strikers in Bair/Rudden/Kane when the problems lay further back in our inability to create chances. We’ve won again by a solitary goal today against a team who were down to 10 men for a long period. MacLean is one of my Saints hero’s but I’m not convinced he’s the answer long term. I appreciate he has Davidson’s squad to work with and he’s moved to a back 4 which was what a lot of the fans wanted. This summer is huge for Saints, if we get it wrong I think we could go down next season.

David Healy the Linfield manager…. Linfield NIFL Premiership: 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22[58][61][66][70][71] Irish Cup: 2016–17, 2020–21 Northern Ireland Football League Cup: 2018–19,[62] 2022–23[75] County Antrim Shield: 2016–17[56] Charity Shield: 2017[59] Individual Northern Ireland Manager of the Year: 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22[61][70]

I'm not too big a fan of Paton either and I agree with the Scobbie comparisons. I do think that he played well against Rangers and is a useful backup. I think the big difference yesterday was the Davidson/Paton central midfield partnership. Chris Millar is a centre midfielder who will always show for the ball, not panic when in tight spaces, and looks to move the ball forward when the opportunity arrives. Davidson is a huge presence in midfield and wins a lot of tackles but very rarely looks to take possession from the defenders. Paton is a bit better than that but, on receiving a pass from a defender, he generally passes it backwards or sideways. The Davidson/Paton partnership doesn't work and we were almost immediately a better team when spoony replaced Paton and gave the team a centre midfielder who could pass it forward. I'd actually be interested to see if Alston could do a similar job to Millar in CM. He doesn't have the pace of a winger or the crossing ability of a right midfielder. He does look like he's willing to take the ball into feet in tight spaces and doesn't panic. I'd rather get spoony back at RM long term.

Sturrock has just been sacked by Yeovil :-(

He hasn't played for Wednesday this season. He's also barely played for PNE since signing.

MOH to go for £1M in January and Stevie May to sign for £500k?

I don't think Joe deserves to be dropped as his current performances seem pretty solid. I don't remember many of the goals we have conceded this season being created from his side of the pitch. His throws also have brought us a goal at Tynecastle and his cross set up Cummins against ICT.

I don't think both are the answer. One of them (I vote for Liam Craig) and a more creative midfielder please.

Mannus Shaughnessy Scobie Anderson Easton Spoony Millar Davidson MOH Sutton Kane

Wiki/non official Facebook post suggesting Saints have signed Paul Heatley, winger from Crusaders (126 games/59 goals) and current NI football writers player of the year. Can't find anything official though.

An Aberdeen pal was telling me that Reynolds, McGinn, Flood and Rooney were all one booking away from being suspended at the start of next season. If true, why would they risk them when there is nothing to play for?

Mannus MacKay Anderson Wright Easton Spoony (RM) Midge Davidson Swanson (preferably)/MOH New Forward New Striker I still think our current back four are an excellent unit but injuries/age will catch up on Wright/Mackay eventually. I'm for loaning Kane out again for at least the first 6 months as I don't think he's ready.

I thought Swanson looked quite dangerous throughout the match tbh. He was an out ball for most of the game and put a lot of work in. I'd be delighted to sign him up.

He worked hard but I don't remembering him having a shot. Same old, same old. Still, he did look better than McFadden who looked well off the pace though pretty much every ball that went towards him was in the air.

He's almost be first choice for me against Celtic and Aberdeen. We're in no position to axe our in form striker when we are still chasing 4th place. We shouldn't jeapordise that oppertunity just because a player who was only on loan at us has signed for another club. Goals win games.

I've watched saints plenty of times this season and have seen MacLean play behind the striker and offer very little. It's McFaddens natural position. I thought McFadden was actually pretty good in the period after he signed but then: A- Got injured against Kilmarnock B-Got stupidly sent off at home to Hamilton Whilst I agree that MOH is effective at left midfield I think we are better playing a reasonably in form Swanson there. I also wouldn't be surprised to see MOH playing up front next season.

I think the fact that Kane is a product of our youth team and has a very high work rate will always endear him to the fans. I'm not surprised that he wins MOM points as a result. I personally don't think he's necessarily ready and may have benefitted from being left on loan at Dumbarton or farmed out elsewhere. I actually think a lot of the energy he uses in closing down defenders would be better utilised on making runs in behind defenders to give us a different option up front. I don't want to sound negative about Kane. I've got high hopes for him and was pleased that the club gave him a long contract. I do think with Saturday being an enormous game in the drive for 4th place that we should go for strikers who have hit the back of the net. Would be delighted for Kane to prove me wrong.

Mannus Easton Wright Anderson Mackay Swanson (LM) Miller Davidson Spoony (RM) McFadden O'Halleran Subs: Banks G Miller Lappin Kane MacLean I'd actually use a similar argument for McFadden not being a particularly effective substitute. Graham has proven to be but neither Kane or McFadden have ever really come on and changed a game from memory. McFadden doesn't give you as high a work rate as MacLean but he has more craft and more goal threat from outside the box.

Why does Kane deserve to start? He hasn't scored a goal. I'd actually quite like to see M'OH up top with McFadden in behind. It's a combination that hasn't been tried yet. MacLean is out of form and Kane was all huff and puff and no threat against Dundee United U20's.

With the lack of goals from midfield (Spoony 1, Miller 1, Swanson, 2, Croft 0 etc.) we can't afford to have a non goalscoring forward. Very little saints attacking play comes through the centre anyway. MacLean should be sitting on the bench at the moment instead of Graham.

We've signed MacLean up already and even though McFadden has been good in patches I would imagine he's on a decent wage and would be almost top of the list to be axed.

There is no way Graham should be on the bench at the moment. We were dire away at Ross County when he was benched and we needed him again today. If anyone should be benched it should be Steven Maclean. There is no point playing a forward that tries hard but doesn't score (as with Kane). McFadden and Graham were actually a decent pairing prior to McFaddens needless suspension. I'd go with those two until the end of the season then release McFadden and sign Graham up.

I didn't see much of the saints defenders standing off and waiting for it tbh. What I saw was the saints players panicking every time he got the ball cause they knew he had the beating of them. He had a few shots on goal including a powerful drive in the second half which was well saved by Millar. I've not seen that level of individual dribbling skill for a while. Whether he can do it at first team level is another matter.

If I'm honest I think Justin Johnson (No.11) could be an unbelievable player with a bit of coaching. He was going past the Saints players easily and by the end of the game there were 2 or 3 saints players round him trying to close him down every time he got the ball. Was he erratic? Definitely. Can he cross? Pass, all I pretty much remember is him cutting inside and shooting? Is he a team player? Doubt it. Let's take into account that he was playing on a very bobbly surface where it seemed pretty difficult for any player to run with the ball. If he was on Saints books I reckon there would be a lot of voices suggesting a big future for this guy.